COC Celebrates Culture Days with Die Fledermaus

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. (at University Avenue)

Tickets: FREE

As part of Culture Days, a three-day, cross-Canada event aimed at encouraging participation in the arts, the Canadian Opera Company offers an exclusive opportunity to attend a portion of a rehearsal of the COC’s new production of Johann Strauss II’s madcap comedy Die Fledermaus at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Before the rehearsal, get the inside scoop at an exclusive pre-performance interview hosted by Brent Bambury who will be chatting with costume designer, Constance Hoffman and set designer Allen Moyer.

The rehearsal process is rarely open to the general public but on Friday, September 28, 2012, 500 people can catch a first glimpse of this effervescent operetta of mistaken identity and seduction set in elegant, early 20th-century Vienna. A pre-rehearsal chat in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in the Four Seasons Centre, gives audience members insight into the popular work, as well as into the process of bringing an operatic production to the stage.

Admission is limited to 500 patrons.

Tickets to the event are FREE and will be distributed at the door starting at 6 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis with an allowance of one ticket per person.

Tickets are not available in advance.

For more information, call COC Ticket Services at 416-363-8231.

Photo: Preliminary costume sketch of a chorus girl (top) and the character Adele (bottom) by costume designer Constance Hoffman for the COC’s production of Die Fledermaus, 2012.

2012/2013 Artist Basics: Judith Forst

What she's singing with us: She'll sing the role of Madame de Croissy in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, the prioress of the abbey where the noblewoman Blanche de la Force seeks refuge from her fears. In one of the opera's most riveting scenes, she experiences an agonizing crisis of faith on her deathbed, deeply unnerving the young Blanche.

Where you might have seen her: Judith Forst has a long history with the COC. Her first role here was Olga in Eugene Onegin in 1972, and she created the part of Pamphilea for the 1999 world premiere of The Golden Ass (by Randolph Peters and Robertson Davies). She's an Order of Canada recipient and has also appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York more than 200 times.

Interviews and profiles: In this La Scena Musicale profile by Joseph So, she shares advice for young singers who might want to follow in her footsteps:

"'When you are given an assignment, really prepare it well,' she says. 'Never arrive with things half done or not learned.' Another important thing to remember is to keep studying. 'You are never finished,' Forst says emphatically. 'Every year goes by, and your instrument changes as your body changes. You always have to work hard and never stop studying.'"

2012/2013 Artist Basics: Atom Egoyan

What he'll be doing with us: Atom Egoyan, switching from film director to opera director, will bring his production of Salome back to the COC in the spring of 2013.

Where you might have seen him: He's primarily known as a film director, nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay) for The Sweet Hereafter in 1997. Some of his other best-known films are Ararat (2002), Exotica (1994), and Chloe (2009). He's also done plenty of directing for live theatre: earlier this year he directed Cruel and Tender for Canadian Stage. He's no stranger to the COC, either – you might have seen his Salome for the COC in 1996 or 2002, or his Die Walküre in 2004/2006.

Interviews and profiles: In this video interview, Egoyan talks about how he came to the opera world and what makes opera directing so artistically rewarding: